Western shirt patterns for both men and women seem to start showing up in the late 1940s and are still available today. This one is pretty typical for the period, and shows up on eBay quite regularly, so it must have been popular.

LADIES' AND MISSES' SMOCK, in Two Lengths; Back Shoulder Edges Extending Over Front; One-Piece Full Length Sleeves Perforated for Shorter Length.

This is a nice smock. The shawl collar and belt add a stylish touch, and you can stash your knitting in the big patch pocket.

The quality of the pattern envelopes for Ladies Home Journal patterns at this period is uniformly dreadful though the pattern tissue is fine. This unprinted pattern appears to have been used. No separate instruction sheet was included.

There was an extensive campaign to knit for the soldiers during World War I, so the illustration would have resonated with women.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Made up in a cotton shirting that was on sale for a few dollars a yard, with white pique trimming.

Finished measurements:

Center back length: 51 1/2"

Actual bust measurement: 53"

Actual hip measurement: 55"

Belt finished measurement: 40"

House dresses don't get much simpler than this. You really don't need to spend 30 cents for a pattern. The Lesson II book of Isabel Conover DeNyse's A Complete Course in Dressmaking, Aprons and House Dresses, shows a very similar dress on its cover, and then guides you through making a simple house dress pattern from a blouse pattern.

The only construction instructions on this McCall pattern are on the back of the envelope.

As usual with garments that don't have shoulder seams, a directional print will be upside down on the back unless you add a shoulder seam. You're assumed to know how to make a slashed opening (either bound or faced) and how to attach a collar with a bias facing.

The sides are finished with french seams and the 3" hem is sewn by hand. After I'd finished buttonhole stitching the loop for the button I remembered reading somewhere the tip to make tatted rings to whip on in place; as far as I know this is the only really practical use for tatting.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

This war-time pattern, with its austere black and white illustration, gave good value for the money, with four different options. Uncle Sam is something of a sharp dresser, with his restrained white tie, and the intriguing striped collar and lapels. The starry vest returns, and the tail coat seems to have become white. The stripes on the coat and trousers are made by tacking down about 25 yards of inch wide ribbon. The earlier broadfall on the trousers has been replaced by a button fly front. The only hat pattern included is for George Washington's tricorn.

Many patterns published during WWII now have brittle, crumbling envelopes and instructions, although the pattern tissue remained of high quality.

World War I. This one looks quite a bit like the J.M. Flagg recruiting poster from World War I:
The pattern artist seems to have tried to lighten the stern-looking Uncle Sam of the poster, but this demonically grinning Uncle Sam is a little disturbing. Note the broadfall trousers.

This pattern is for the tail coat, vest, and trousers; no pattern is included for the hat. The starry vest is similar to this Uncle Sam found on a poster at sonsofthesouth.net:

The less fashionable side of home sewing

What we wear when we are not necessarily trying to communicate how fashionable we want to be is an area of interest for me. From the earliest days of commercial home sewing patterns the pattern companies produced patterns for utilitarian clothing and other objects. They must have sold, since they show up on ebay now and again, and when they do, I try to pick them up. I'll use this blog to shed a little light on this lesser known side of home sewing in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.